RIVERS & LAKES 2030 GLOBAL GOAL
Our goal is to catalyse investment to safeguard and restore rivers, lakes and their accompanying wetlands, as part of wider freshwater systems; and to provide water security for people and nature, climate resilience, and sustainable and peaceful landscapes.
The Ugandan government started a process to establish a specific law on wetland management in addition to the National Environment Act. This should help ensure stronger wetland governance and management and reduce disaster risks. In India, the Kabartal Wetland and Asan Conservation Reserve have been designated as Ramsar Sites and we are supporting the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Government of Bihar in their respective management plans. The Asan site is a 444 ha stretch of the Asan River running down to its confluence with the Yamuna River in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand and supports 330 species of birds. Kabartal covers 2,620 ha of the Indo-Gangetic plains, in Begusarai district of the state of Bihar and acts as a vital flood buffer for the region as well as providing livelihood opportunities and critical habitat for biodiversity. In the Himalayas, the South Asia team prepared an inventory of high-altitude wetlands (HAWs) along with a guidebook for managers of HAWs to assist in integrated management plans.
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that is implemented in partnership with IHE Delft (lead), World Resources Institute, International Alert, the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and Deltares. The programme will stimulate dialogue in Mali, Eastern Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan around solutions to conflicts where water insecurity is an important factor. In Lac Wegnia, and the Sourou Valley in Mali and in Ziway-Shalla, Ethiopia, coalitions of farmers, local actors in agriculture value chains and local governments have been established to promote innovations towards sustainable agricultural water and wetland use, in partnership with Caritas, Hydrosolutions and IWMI with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. 200 ha of land was restored in the Ziway-Shalla basin in Ethiopia, through community managed enclosure sites. A quarter of a million seedlings were planted and physical soil and water conservation structures built to reduce the sedimentation of Lake Ziway that is reducing its capacity and risking higher rates of evaporation and salinisation. In India, the development of over 50 grassroot development plans (Gram Panchayat Development Plans) were completed along with 7 district-level disaster management plans that will assist in the future leveraging of resources for the implementation of ecosystem-based risk reduction measures. The status of 70,000 ha of peatbogs and freshwater marshes in two internationally important Ramsar sites in the Puna region of the High Andes in Argentina and Peru was improved through management and restoration actions implemented with local communities.
By 2030, we aim to safeguard and restore 60 million hectares of wetlands as integral elements of productive river and lake landscapes.
Rivers & Lakes Healthy wetlands
Rivers & Lakes
Reduced climate risks
Water resource and climate scenarios were completed for the Upper Niger basin and the Inner Niger Delta. These showed that drier years will increase significantly and, in combination with the current plans for agricultural and energy development in the region, will place the livelihoods of delta communities based on fisheries and farming under high stress. In the Lac Debo-Youwarou biodiversity hotspot, in the Inner Niger Delta, Mali, 7 village chiefs signed a memorandum agreeing to sustainable forest management for 2,000 ha of restored flooded forest. This demonstrates that significant restoration work can be undertaken and anchored in local agreements despite ongoing insecurity in Mali. In Eastern Africa, Wetland Management Plans (WMPs), Monographs and Project Investment Plans (CIPs) for 3 transboundary wetlands: Sio-Siteko in Kenya and Uganda; Semliki in DR Congo and Uganda; and Sango-Minziro in Uganda and Tanzania were completed and endorsed by the respective governments. In Ethiopia, in the Abijatta-Shalla basin, an assessment of the management requirements of the national park was completed.
A core partnership with the International Water Management Institute, CARE and International Alert for the Blue Lifelines for a Secure Sahel “Big Idea” was established to develop landscape propositions in key wetland landscapes and a strategy to engage on these with the World Bank, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the European Union and the African Union’s Commission for the Great Green Wall Initiative. The government of Argentina recognised the contributions made by wetlands to climate change adaptation and mitigation in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) report presented to the UNFCCC in December 2020. This is an important step in integrating wetlands conservation and restoration needs into government climate financing priorities.
By 2030, we aim to safeguard 10 million hectares of high value river and lake wetlands, focusing in five basins.
Rivers & Lakes
Resilient wetland communities
By 2030, we aim that €500 million is committed to enable Nature- based Solutions in freshwater wetlands, for climate mitigation and adaptation.
We launched a 5-year Water, Peace and Security programme, supported by the
16
17
Wetlands International Annual Review 2020
Wetlands International Annual Review 2020
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online